Love Worth Fighting For

By Kelly Garrison

"Love Worth Fighting For is a truly inspiring story from start to finish. Despite overwhelming obstacles, Kelly is able to find victory and joy through her unyielding faith and love for her Savior and her desire to follow Him through every valley. Her beautiful testimony reveals in an undeniable way that th

• Language: English
• Publisher: Trilogy Christian Publishing
• Release date: Feb 1, 2023
• ISBN: 9798887381725

Book preview

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Love

Worth

Fighting

For

LETTING GOD WRITE

MY STORY

by

Kelly Nichole Garrison

Greyscale Trilogy Christian Publishing logo

Love Worth Fighting For

Trilogy Christian Publishers

A Wholly Owned Subsidiary of Trinity Broadcasting Network

2442 Michelle Drive, Tustin, CA 92780

Copyright © 2022 by Kelly Nichole Garrison

Scripture quotations marked nlt are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked nkjv are taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without written permission from the author. All rights reserved. Printed in the USA. Rights Department, 2442 Michelle Drive, Tustin, CA 92780.

Trilogy Christian Publishing/TBN and colophon are trademarks of Trinity Broadcasting Network.

For information about special discounts for bulk purchases, please contact Trilogy Christian Publishing.

Trilogy Disclaimer: The views and content expressed in this book are those of the author and may not necessarily reflect the views and doctrine of Trilogy Christian Publishing or the Trinity Broadcasting Network.

Manufactured in the United States of America

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available.

ISBN: 979-8-88738-171-8

E-ISBN: 979-8-88738-172-5

Dedication

This book is dedicated to my very best friend, Alicia Davenport, and her mom, Carolyn Armento. If it wasn’t for their beautiful feet leading me to Jesus, I wouldn’t have this story to tell.

For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. But how can they call on him to save them unless they believe in him? And how can they believe in him if they have never heard about him? And how can they hear about him unless someone tells them? And how will anyone go and tell them without being sent? That is why the Scriptures say, How beautiful are the feet of the messengers who bring good news!

— Romans 10:13–15, NLT

This book is also dedicated to my AMAZING husband, Kyle David Garrison, whom I adore and look forward to spending the rest of my life with. Thank you for loving me unconditionally and never giving up on us. Thank you for all your encouragement, for loving our children, and for all your hard work to provide for our family. Having you in my life has made me a better person.

I would also like to dedicate this book to my beautiful mom and dad for giving me the opportunity to find my place in this world. I will forever be thankful to both of you. And my beautiful little sister Margarete for being my very first cheerleader (Ribbons and Bows—Xs and Os). I will forever be thankful for you in my life. Thank you for never giving up on me no matter how many times I have failed you. I will always love you.

Author’s Note

Throughout the past fifteen years, I have attempted to write about my life story. I have always had a deep desire to share what God was doing in my life in hopes that it would inspire and encourage others to know the love and truth of God. I always failed at those attempts after a few pages in, until God’s perfect timing in the month of October 2021. I heard the gentle voice of God encourage me to start writing. I hesitated because I had never been able to finish a book before and didn’t want to waste my time failing again.

But this time, the Holy Spirit encouraged me to commit to getting on my computer, trusting Him, and typing at least once every day. I made that commitment, and within a month, I had finally finished my first book.

I give all the credit to God. He has a message for you. It was you that He saw when He was working on me through the trials in my life. It was you that He saw when He encouraged me to write this book. He wants you to know that no matter how deep the pain and sorrow, you can truly be healed. No matter what the bondage and struggle, you can truly be free. No matter what the trial, you can come out of it victoriously. Nothing is impossible with God.

It is my prayer that as you read my story, you will be inspired, encouraged, filled with hope, strengthened in your walk with Jesus, and victorious through your trials. Always remember that love never fails, and that is why love is worth fighting for in every relationship and area of our lives.

Acknowledgments

All glory and praise to God the Father, Jesus the Son, and the Holy Spirit for saving me from my sins and giving me a new life filled with love, healing, hope, and joy. I want to thank everyone mentioned in my book and everyone not mentioned who saw value in me and took the time to pour God’s love and truth into my life. Thank you with my whole heart for choosing to build God’s kingdom. I am who I am today because of you. Always remember that every act of love is a miracle, no matter how big or small. I pray that God blesses you abundantly and that your love for God and people will never die out.

Contents

Dedication

Author’s Note

Acknowledgments

Prologue

I Washed His Feet

God Made Me New

My Salvation Testimony

Building God’s Kingdom

Inner Healing

Ring by Spring

When Two Became One

False Teachers and Prophets

Scales Fell from My Eyes

Baby Kalem

Hope Works

Like It Matters

Epilogue

Kyle’s Note

Prologue

Is love worth fighting for? Love should be the most valued characteristic a human could behold, yet we toss it around like it’s something useless and without results. I am writing this book to share with you my story, or should I say, His story. It’s really the story I let God write.

God is the author of love. The author of the very breath that we breathe and our destiny. He is the one who shows us the true meaning of love. God is love. If we let Him write our story, love is truly worth fighting for. Love makes a way when there seems to be no way. Love makes the impossible possible.

God’s love changed me. It shook me to my core. It took me through the fire and refined me. After all the hardships I faced, I grieved that I was never the same, but I was made new, and I want you to know that you can be made new, too. There is hope for healing, strength, courage, and victory in your life.

I Washed His Feet

My husband Kyle and I were on our fifth year of marriage. The first year of marriage was great. The second and third years were good. We had always said that divorce was never an option so that it would never happen, but by the fourth year, talk of divorce started to surface in our arguments. I realized that I lacked honor and respect towards my husband, so I started seeking God and reading a couple of books on how to do that. I applied as much advice and wisdom as I could from those books, and our marriage got better.

It was a beautiful summer day in our double-wide trailer on ten acres of land in the country. We were four months in as first-time homeowners. When my husband Kyle got home from work, he had a fever, so he went straight to our room to rest. It was a quiet evening. I had just gotten our two toddlers to bed after a long exhausting day of being a stay-at-home mama. I felt so good about all I had accomplished that day. My life was perfect, or at least I thought it was. The house was clean, and I felt great. I was a God-loving, respectful, submissive, joyful wife. I had all my ducks in a row. I worked hard for it.

I prepared myself a huge plate of delicious homemade tacos. It was finally my time to relax. I walked into the living room with my plate of yummy food ready to reward myself for all I had accomplished that day. I sat down on the couch and turned on the TV. I was a few bites in, and my husband came out in a robe. He was burning hot with a fever and sweating. I paused the TV show, and Kyle sat beside me on the couch. He begins to tell me that there’s something I should know. I give him my full concerned attention. He was staring into my eyes like he wasn’t even there, like it was an out-of-body experience for him, and the words, I had an affair with one of your best friends, came out of his mouth. My heart stopped and then began to pound. I could not believe what I was hearing. I was thinking, This cannot be real. No, no, no, this cannot be real.

Immediately I asked him questions. I wanted to know everything. He honestly answered every question I had. I found out that he had been lying to me about things ever since we met. I suddenly didn’t know this person I had been married to for five years. His eyes were like dark holes of deep darkness. The man I depended on to support me, the man I thought loved me and would protect me, the man I had to honor, respect, and submit to was suddenly a stranger. I had no words.

I got up after those few minutes of asking just a few questions to give me some ground of what I was dealing with and went to the closet to get dressed. I could not stay there. There was no way I could stay with this man I didn’t even know anymore. I didn’t even know what I was doing. All I knew was I could not stay there. He asked where I was going, and I said, I have to leave, just please don’t hurt our children. He assured me he wouldn’t hurt the kids. At this point, I didn’t even know if he was capable of doing that because if he lied to me about these deep things, then what else could he be lying to me about?

I grew up in Illinois and Iowa, so all my family and childhood friends were up north fifteen hours away. I gave up my life up north with my family for this man. Where was I going? What was I going to do? How could this have possibly happened to me? My childhood was kind of rough, and my parents split up when I was young. It was hurtful for me. I never wanted that for my babies, but I couldn’t figure out how I would be able to leave Kyle and hurt my kids like that or stay and suffer the pain head-on and have to love, honor, and respect this man I didn’t even know anymore.

I always thought if you love someone, you wouldn’t cheat on them. I felt so unloved. I couldn’t wrap my mind around how he could do that to me. I deeply felt like he truly did not love me, because you don’t do that to someone if you love them. My heart was shattered into a million pieces in one moment.

Kyle was very concerned about me leaving. Honestly, I can’t remember what he said, just that he was concerned and probably thinking, Where is she going to go so late at night? He had to trust God. God had me.

I got into the car and drove away. I felt like hyperventilating. I could not believe it was real. I must be dreaming, I thought. I cried and prayed and cried and prayed. I was in so much shock. My heart was still pounding. I text messaged my mother-in-love asking her to come by our house with baby formula because my second daughter at the time was only one year old and still nursing. She was going to need milk in the morning, and I did not know if I could come back home that soon.

While my heart pounded, I quieted down and thought about everything and asked myself where I was going. Where will I go? I thought. I didn’t have any close friends nearby. The friend that was one of my best friends at the time had the affair with my husband. I had another close friend who had just found out her husband had an affair. She was actually in our home sleeping a few months before this, and God gave her a dream her husband was cheating on her. When she woke up, she checked her husband’s phone, and the girl he was cheating on her with started messaging him. I didn’t want to burden her with my sudden life crisis. Her situation was heartbreaking. I didn’t have any mentors I really trusted that I could go talk to. I started to feel so angry at my friend and decided to go to her apartment to confront her. I imagined myself attacking her physically, punching her, and dragging her around by her hair outside on the apartment lawn. I knew in my heart that beating someone up is not what Jesus would want me to do. I didn’t know what I would do or say, but I couldn’t see myself going anywhere else.

I am the kind of person you meet with her heart on her sleeve. If you sit and have a conversation with me, you will know me. I don’t put up walls. I love to communicate. I don’t like beating around the bush. I like to get straight to the heart. I want people to know me, and I want to know people, none of this shallow stuff. And if there’s an issue, we are going to talk about it. Relationships are worth that. My husband had let me know when he confessed the affair that her husband knew she had the affair. She confessed to her husband the week before. After she confessed to her husband, they went to my husband after church and told him he knew. Her husband forgave my husband for what he did. This guy was so broken but had so much humility and surrender to Jesus. They said they were not going to tell me and that it was not their place, but that Kyle should.

When I arrived at the apartment complex, my heart was painfully humbled. I knew I could not have the revenge that I wanted. I knew I was supposed to pick up my cross and follow Jesus. I was humbly defeated, completely defeated and dead inside. It was pitch black outside, and I didn’t even care about walking in the dark parking lot. Nothing could have been more painful than the pain I was already feeling, so I had no fear. I walked up the metal stairway and knocked on my friend’s door. They both answered and stood in the doorway, and I just stared into their eyes. I wanted her to see the pain in my eyes. I could not say a word. It was revenge enough to let her see the deep deep pain her actions had caused me. Her husband looked at me with remorse and understanding that I knew about the affair. At that moment, I knew they knew I knew.

I turned around defeated and somewhat satisfied that my silent heartbreak was heard, walked down the stairs, and got into my car. I did not know where I was going to go still. As I drove around through the night thinking about where I could go, I remembered that my dear mentors Kirsten and Tagi, who let me live with them my senior year in Iowa, were living in North Fort Worth at the time. I texted them asking if I could come over, and they welcomed me into their home with open arms. As I sat in their living room crying, telling them what had just happened to me, I kept asking